Grasslands

Separating Species

516 ARTS announces a two-part exhibition curated by Mary Anne Redding, Curator of Photography at the Palace of the Governors/New Mexico History Museum. This project is the culminating exhibition in the six-month series of programs presented by 516 ARTS for LAND/ART, a collaboration exploring land-based art (www.landartnm.org). The exhibition catalog is published by Radius Books, and features essays by William DeBuys and Rebecca Solnit and Mary Anne Redding (http://radiusbooks.org).

Michael P. Berman’s current series of photographs, titled Grasslands, is about the endangered Chihuahuan Desert grasslands in New Mexico, Texas and the northern border of Mexico, where he has wandered into the desert without a compass to, in his words, "live deliberately." He believes that how you see the land comes down to what you value. "I believe art has a greater potential for meaning when it serves some purpose." This two-part exhibition sprung from the work of Michael Berman, a current Guggenheim Fellow, who is both esteemed in the contemporary art world and a longtime activist with several environmental organizations. Inspired by his Grasslands series, guest curator Mary Anne Redding has assembled a remarkable group of artists for the accompanying, concurrent exhibition Separating Species. All of the artists delve into land in diverse ways that illuminate our relationship to our fragile ecosystems, highlighting our interconnectedness with the environment and non-human species. Krista Elrick examines North American birds; Dana Fritz looks at plants and animals in engineered indoor landscape environments; Jo Whaley creates theatrical still life images of insects and humans; and, current Guggenheim Fellow David Taylor’s images of border monuments along the US/Mexico border explore the effect of border control on both humans and animals.

EXHIBITION PROGRAMS & RELATED LAND/ART PROGRAMS:

Saturday, Oct. 3, 6-8pm: Opening reception at 516 ARTS Live music to be announced.

Saturday. Oct. 3, 2pm: Panel Discussion with Guggenheim FellowsCurator Mary Anne Redding will lead a panel discussion with current Guggenheim Fellows Michael P. Berman and David Taylor featured in the exhibitions at 516 ARTS, and Erika Blumenfeld, featured with a solo exhibition next door at Richard Levy Gallery (www.levygallery.com).

Saturday, Nov. 21, 8pm: Conversation with David Abram: Discourse of the Birds. Special guest David Abram is a writer, cultural ecologist, philosopher, and director of the Alliance for Wild Ethics. He is author of The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World. At 516 ARTS. Free admission. Info: 505-242-1445, www.landartnm.org